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Kitchen Chat and more…
Kitchen Chat and more…
Have you heard from Tipple and Dram Bar? Located at 24 Ann Siang Road, the appearance is that of a wine bar when you first walk into the bright and cheery place with rows upon rows of wine. However, if you go down the stairs to the basement, you walk into a completely different place. Tipple and Dram Bar hides its whisky bar from view, which gave it an air of secrecy and a sense of cosiness when you sip a dram there.
Once you step off the staircase and around the corner, there is a big table with armchairs just inviting you to lounge in them with a Glencairn glass in hand. Continue to walk in, and you will find another table and armchairs to your right, and the bar right in front of you!
Behind the bar, there is yet another table and armchairs just waiting for whisky lovers. If you are not in a big group, the best place to sit is, of course, at the bar. You get a full view of the bottles, and you can just pick the bottles that you want by looking instead of using the menu!
Tipple and Dram Bar has a wide selection of special official distillery bottling on offer by the dram. Think of special releases like the Laphroaig Cairdeas (meant only for Friends of Laphroaig) and Bowmore Islay Festival bottling (the bar has an entire range from 2014 to 2017). There are also a series of Cadenhead bottlings to whet the appetite of those who prefer independent bottling.
Geek Choc had a couple of drams from Islay – a Bowmore Islay Festival 2014 and the Laphroaig Brodir. I had an Edradour Fairy Place and a Cadenhead Bladnoch. Our friend, Fab, who went along with us despite a tiring day, comforted himself with a Cadenhead Cragganmore. While we did not get to try a lot of whisky due to time, the drams we had were excellent.
We cannot have this post without talking about the bar food available. We ordered a “Half Half Platter”, which consisted of some hams and cheese.
These were some of the best hams and cheeses I had, especially the cheeses! The French Brie was my favourite as it was incredibly creamy with a super soft and smooth texture. I like the spicy salami as well. The spiciness is well-balanced and pairs well with whisky.
Then, there is the complimentary bread bowl. Flora loves French pastries so you can imagine her excitement at the sight of the bread bowl! Hahaha…The bread complimented the cheese beautifully!
Tipple and Dram is a very new bar with barely just two months in operation. There is room for improvement definitely, such as leaving the whisky bottle with the customer for a short while so that we can take a picture. It is unfortunate that we only managed one picture of the whisky bottles, but seeing that it is our first time at the bar, we did not wish to encroach on their policies of not having bottles at the bar too.
The selection is broad but not extensive. There is also room for improvement on this one, but the current collection is enough to please a whisky drinker who loves to try the special releases from official distillery bottlings. We understand from the bar manager, Chris, that more will come shortly. They are also working hard to make the whisky bar a haven for everyone to relax and enjoy a dram!
We look forward to seeing whisky flights and more whisky selections at Tipple and Dram. For now, we encourage you to visit them and see the place and the fantastic offer of special distillery bottling that they have available by the glass.
When whisky nerds get together, sensitive topics that hold dear to our hearts can sometimes be raised and debated. These sessions can get rather heated if not controlled, and more often than not, we agree to disagree with one another. A recent whisky event held at a bar raise this question between Geek Choc and me, and hence the debate began.
ABV, or alcohol by volume, is the measurement of alcoholic content within a beverage. In the simplest of terms, I would describe the effects of abv as creating a fuller picture of the whisky. There are more flavours; the whisky is more complex and robust when the abv is above a certain value. The optimal abv for each person varies, as it depends on how far the person has journeyed in his whisky adventures.
It appears that the classic debate amongst whisky drinkers is often the abv of a bottle. What constitutes a high abv? Some of us may have heard people saying, “Less than 50% abv, cannot drink lah!” Others may rebut and say, “60% abv? You might as well drink ethanol la!”
In an attempt to understand the debate, Geek Choc and I studied the effects of drinking high abv whisky (above 50% abv) and lower abv whisky (49.9% and below) by judging how our noses and palates react to the whisky. Over the course of a few weeks, we drank whiskies that were 40%, 43%, 46%, 50%, 55.7% and 60%. We also take into consideration the type of cask used for maturation as well as the age of the whiskies.
Here’s what we discovered.
It’s true. The profile of a whisky does not depend on the abv all the time. While the abv does affect the nose and taste of the whisky, the production methods play a more vital role in the profile. Not all 40% whisky is under the “cannot drink” category, and not all 50% and above whisky are pleasant too. At the end of the day, it really depends on where the person is in his drinking journey and also the experience of the particular drinking session that he is after.
Our conclusion is that cask influence is a more crucial element than the abv itself. The cask plays an integral part of whisky maturation, and the flavours imparted from the cask to the whisky determine the final product. An ex-bourbon matured whisky differs from an ex-sherry matured expression; the same goes for those matured in other types of casks. For example, a 46% abv ex-bourbon matured whisky may not taste as good to me as a 40% ex-sherry matured whisky because the flavours from the cask are different. The body and character of the individual liquid help to determine the final profile of the whisky, not the abv.
This seems like an off-topic but no, I am still on the topic. We discovered at a light, ex-bourbon whisky of about 46% is perfect for blending. The medium abv coupled with a light-bodied character accepts the addition of a more flavourful and yet lower abv whisky easily, making a new, robust whisky that has an abv of an in-between. We blended a Scotch (46%) with a Taiwanese whisky (40%) and the blend is better than either of the single malts. Well, maybe it only tasted better to us, but the idea is there! Therefore, it is not true to say that a whisky with a standard abv is a weak or bad whisky.
Finally, I want to say that taste is subjective. While one low abv whisky may taste bad to you, it does not mean that every low abv whisky will taste bad. Be open, and explore the world of whisky. Try not to turn up your nose at a whisky that is 40%, but try it. You never know when you may like one! The same goes for high abv whisky – not every one of them is nice. I had tried some really horrid ones to be sure!
I hope this article sits well with all of you. I know some of you may disagree, but we can always discuss it in details again! 😀 May all of us get to drink as much as whisky as we want!
We interview Dr Giancarlo Bianchi, Technical Director of Penderyn Distillery previously, where we spoke briefly about Penderyn Distillery. It is now time for us to formally introduce the Penderyn Distillery to our readers since their products are coming to Singapore shortly.
Wales, England had lost the art of distillation for over a century since it stopped in 1894. The people of Wales need to have a distillery to call their own, their pride. In the late 1990s, a group of friends met at a pub in a small Welsh valley town for a catch-up session over drinks. As the night progressed, the talk turned serious, and this group of friends began to conceive the idea of building the first whisky distillery in Wales. It would be a Welsh distillery that creates “a whisky as pure and precious as Welsh gold” and one which the people of Wales will be proud of.
The group of friends already have a location in mind – the historic village of Penderyn on the southern tip of the Brecon Beacons. The site is perfect because it has its supply of fresh, natural spring water. They knew that it is the ideal place for a distillery. What’s more, this resourceful group of friends also have access to a unique copper single-pot still designed by Dr David Faraday. He is a relative of the famous 19th-century scientist Michael Faraday.
With the resources and plans ready in hand, the group of friends began the construction of Penderyn Distillery and established the home of the Welsh’s liquid gold on 1 March 2004 in the presence of HRH Prince Charles.
How is Welsh’s liquid gold made? Well, remember we spoke about Penderyn’s unique copper single-pot still designed by Dr David Faraday? It is this very still that makes gold for Penderyn.
Penderyn distillery has a pair of copper single-pot stills called the Faraday Stills. The stills are designed by Dr David Faraday, who is a relative of the famous Victorian scientist, Michael Faraday. The single-pot still produces a clean and flavourful spirit of extraordinary strength that becomes Penderyn’s signature style of whisky.
The distillery charges malted barley wash into their copper stills every morning. The still is heated with hot steam. As the liquid reaches boiling point, the vapour rises into a copper column above the still. The column has seven perforated plates, and the vapour condenses on the first plate before falling back into the still. The process continues, with the vapour that condenses on the first plate becoming purer and rising to the second plate before condensing. This delicate process continues until the vapour reaches the 7th plate, where it condenses and is collected into a glass spirit safe, drop by drop.
The entire process helps to purify the final spirit and imbues it with great complexity, depth, and body. The copper still also removes many undesirable chemical compounds. The magical process creates a clean spirit of extraordinary strength. The new make at Penderyn arrives at the spirits safe at a staggering strength of 92% abv, one of the industry highest.
The new make from Penderyn needs a home after they are born. Penderyn takes great care to ensure every drop of liquid has a quality home to rest in. The distillery’s house style comes from the use of two kinds of casks. The primary residence of the new make is an excellent hand-selected bourbon barrel that comes from either Buffalo Trace or Evan Williams Distillery. Both of them make some of the finest bourbons in the world. That makes their ex-bourbon casks perfect as the first home for Penderyn’s whisky.
Penderyn uses Portuguese barriques that held a rich Madeira wine to finish their house-style whisky. The rich Madeira casks imparted subtlety and complexity to the whisky. They also use other types of casks to create a range of products to suit everyone’s palate. The distillery uses Scottish peated casks, Portugal port wood barrels and Spanish dry oloroso sherry casks.
Penderyn has a large range of whisky available for every whisky drinker. At a glance, there are three ranges of whisky on offer as well as other spirits such as gin and vodka.
First up, there is the Dragon range. It showcases the pride of Wales as the red dragon is the national flag. Under the Dragon range, you can find Legend, Myth and Celt. Legend mirrors the house-style of Penderyn’s signature malt, with ex-bourbon and Madeira finish. Myth is matured in ex-bourbon and ex-red wine casks. Celt is the lightly peated version of Penderyn’s single malt.
There is also the Gold range, which is made up of Maderia, Port wood, Sherry wood and Peat. Every expression is matured in ex-bourbon cask before getting a finish in their respective casks.
Besides the above seven expressions, Penderyn also has limited edition releases named Icons of Wales which showcase either a person, milestone or event from Welsh history with international significance. So far, the distillery launched five expressions with number six coming along in the near future.
We understand that Penderyn whisky will be launched in Singapore in October 2018 with seven expressions from the Dragon and Gold range. The dates are not confirmed, but we will be releasing them as soon as we know. Stay tuned for more!
11311 Harry Hines Blvd
Dallas, TX, United States
(555) 389 976
dallas@enfold-restaurant.com